Thursday, June 30, 2011

"Gutenberg invented the printing press (with variable letters) -considered the most important event of the modern era
1455 he published the bible.
Soon later he was bankrupt.
1517 Martin Luther put the 95 theses on the church gate.
Knowledge about the bible spread across Europe."

>> Fate of an innovator?

@MikeNelson on stage, different approaches to new technologies

Over the past two days it was the web-age and the internet that disrupts current business and create new business models. The 3rd Internet of Things Conference Europe with distinguished guests and speakers from politics arena around the European Commission, main players in the field, innovators (like Uman Haquer, Christian Nold), bloggers and tweeteres from around Europe (like Pierre Metivier, and myself), and some well-known folks from the U.S. (like Mike Nelson[whom I met at Amplify Festival 2011 a mere three weeks ago in Sydney], John Curran)

What is the output that is valuable for society, businesses, and country economies? Reading John Hagel's & John Seely Brown's "Power of Pull" it can only be:

Define the outputs - and then orchestrate the complex network of players from customers, to service-providers to political entities and standardization institutions to co-create through shared standards and governing interactions that are transparent between the actors. (based on text on page 84 of "Power of Pull")

Can all the players in the game be put on just "one table" in order to achieve that? What enabling power can the "Internet of Thinking" play in this?

Monday, June 27, 2011

On my way to the 3rd Internet of Things Conference Europe. This time about 9 hours on the train and one would expect that was is not common in air, should be normal on ground: internet connection all along Europe.

Reading John Hagel's and John Seely Brown's book "The Power of Pull" I do a little bit of field research on use of web on the train. Just while reading watching the people around me, which -due to lack of power sockets on this IC 2250 from Leipzig to Frankfurt-Airport- gather around the tabes in the waggon. Besides me three other folks who have their fingers on either a laptop, iPhone, or Treo (that's me ;-)).

To my surprise only the mobile connection via my Treo makes sense at all, GPRS connection is just sufficient to grab the latest tweets and mails - thoough most of the time (at least to Frankfurt there is no net available. "Strange! Aren't we talking about LTE, G4, already? Where is the infrastructure got stuck?"

Reading my tweets, a response by O2-business team to Dirk Spannaus (with whom I ran the session on senso networks at Mobile Camp mid-May) caught my interest. Asked these guys on the connectivity to their web service. Their answer, "We have no clue whatsever" (roughly in this sense, the original see tweet). - Amazing! I offer my support and help as tester. Let's see what happens (Undisclosure: around a dozen tickets on not working internet connection put to service hotline in the past 12 months - no change whatsoever yet)

Even more thrilling is the fact that especially two of these guys, while working with on the edge technical devices - to my surprise- got out worn-out paper calendars of a size of a medium cooking-pot! Connected in the "show-off" part of the digital personality divide (as I would call it), but yet still sticking to the paper as in the past decades before the the WorldWideWeb and mobile interconnectivity have changed the way of work and pleasure.

I wonder whether I travel right now through the lands of the past or the state of the art tech-nation in Europe towards the hot spot where political decisions are put into place to change the behavior of the "big players" to move into the web-age soon (at an accelerated pace - otherwise Europe will be pretty much outwashed by countries like China, India, or even Austtralia.

Looking very much forward meeting Mike Nelson up in Bruxelles, whom I met two weeks ago in Sydney at Amplify Festival 2011, and learning about the movements of the European Commission.

PS.: Without broadband infrastructure especially in mobile environmemt there is tough times for "Internet of Things" and as long as we see business people with their heavy paper timers (also carrying their Blackberries and iPhones ;-)) we are still pretty much behind the mainstream in other parts of the globe. Europe wake up, YES WE (also) can DO!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Last weekend around this time we were well into the 1st DAY at #gathering11 - an exceptional experience. Similar power I have seen in Muscat, Oman, during the 3rd SoL Global Forum in spring 2008 and visiting the "management school without teachers" (Team Academy) where students co-create value for real customers and learn through this experience.

Being part of the collective learning experience one often encounter times when you really feel "yes, that's working nicely" to moments you think "nothing really comes out of that".

The beauty of an event over several days is that you can adjust your personal thinking and connecting your past experience with what is going on in the room gradually (if you allow to let it go loose). Once you sort of give up, feeling that the process is overpowering you (which I actually felt on the arrival in the morning of the 2nd DAY), the way is open to transcend into a larger collective body, get yourself connected.

This happened to me during the second part of the Sunday at Abbotsford Convent in Melbourne, when the asset workshop at the very end really grasped my interest and joy. This was the state which connected very well with my first encounter with a Twitterwall at the 1st Mobile Camp in Dresden in 2009 which emerged in the WikiWall.

My condensed take away from these two amazing days (which I unfortunately could not follow up in the Hub Melbourne) are captured in the following PresencingStatus:

Gathering11 Badge

What was good? Powerful morning start with "Thrivable World" video by Jean Russell, the power of passionate and dedicated people in the room, the beauty of the venue (which reminded me of CoOrpheum), connecting with people whom I only knew across Facebook, a wide range of passionate change makers (in discipline, age, profession, role, etc.)

What was tricky? Holding the energy power feeling the sort of "overheating"

What have I learned? Connections are most easily made with name badges (in the size we had been given - where the heck did I put it? Found just now :) ), technology (e.g. my question on the gathering11 Flickr) is not yet playing a larger part in the collaborative action across boundaries (whether in distance, time zone, or field of expertise/ experience)

Action to be taken? more than happy to engage in making a "thrivable world" become happening in the days ahead (even though away in distance and time (8 hours delayed to Melbourne)) - technology provides the tools to do so. "How Small Moves, Smartly Made, can Set Big Things in Motion" - subtitle of "The Power of Pull" and my personal philosophy in life (sometimes I call it Lean Thinking ;))

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Yesterday I got reminded that having too much drive in bringing things forward can be a constraint. Being passionate about sharing and connecting people and ideas I often stumble across "unseen" barriers. People get overwhelmed and step aside from my network.

Reminds me of my own behavior of processing information. Rather I like to jump into the "Lake of Wisdom" where I can capture information, people, and data in way I think is relevant. Isn't it therefore not possible to create this opportunity where who wishes can create his/ her own "lake of wisdom"?

How cool would that be? Filling up the level of wisdom you can then decide on (speed, volume, etc.).

A dream? Yes, maybe. It is already pretty close - it perhaps just needs a nudge to happen.

PS.: The picture on left is taken during the flood crisis in Dresden 2002 where information first sat in people's heads, then on the wall (picture) and then smoothly transcended into mobile devices (like Palm Zires, which Palm Europe Inc. sponsored the City of Dresden)

Now sitting on the table grabbing an older MIT Sloan Management Review (summer 2009 (!)) the notion of making the change happen from the outside (rather than from inside) hit me again. "Innovation From The Inside Out".

Making the change happen (and last) one has to learn the things a great big wave surfer has to have:

Thursday, June 2, 2011

As with all big changes, intended to make a difference, you have to change the structure. Often it is not easy to find the "right" leverage point.

One of those (a day in autumn 2010) was the beginning of love for ballet and seeing beyond the pure show, but rather the deeper intentions and interactions of the dancers - an awesome expression of the Power of WE.